Come Bond with Rainbow

Rainbow National Services LLC, a unit of Cablevision Systems Corp., said it will issue about $800 million in bonds to help finance Rainbow Media Enterprises, the programming arm of Cablevision that is scheduled to be spun off later this year.

According to a press release, the offering will include $250 million in senior notes due 2012 and $550 million in senior subordinated notes due 2014.

The offering, coupled with a $950 million senior secured credit facility, will be distributed to RME, which, in turn, will distribute $725 million of the proceeds to Rainbow Media Holdings Inc. to pay off all existing borrowings under an $821 million credit agreement.

The remainder of the proceeds will be distributed to RME’s other subsidiaries, including satellite arm Rainbow DBS.